Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center officials issued an apology Aug. 8 after sending a North Carolina family the blood-stained clothes their daughter had been wearing at the time of her death in April, according to The News & Observer.
Leslie Rogers, 23, died at Wake Forest Baptist April 30 from a gunshot wound to the head. Her family reportedly asked the hospital for Ms. Rogers' belongings at the time, but was told she did not have anything when she came to the facility, according to the report.
Mark and Michele Rogers said they received a call from a Wake Forest Baptist employee last week — roughly three months after the incident — asking if they wanted their daughter's belongings. Mr. Rogers reportedly asked the employee what the items were, but the employee said she did not know and was not allowed to open the plastic bag they were contained in.
Ms. Rogers said she later received a package containing her daughter's clothes "stained with blood and tissue from the bullet wound," the report states. She claimed the clothes were contained inside a regular plastic bag, not a biomedical bag, and said other small items were also inside.
"I'm angry because no parent should ever receive their kids bloody clothes that they died in," Mr. Rogers told WBTV-3 News. "We're still grieving over our child and it was a surprise to get a box that had her bloody clothes cut off her body. … I just want to know if this is normal to ship a grieving family the clothes that their daughter got killed in. … I think it was untasteful and wrong."
In an emailed statement to The News & Observer, a hospital executive said, "I know I speak for all of us at Wake Forest Baptist when I say that we were saddened to learn that we had mistakenly returned soiled clothing in a package of belongings sent to the parents of a past patient. … While we have a policy in place that directs how patient belongings should be handled, our teams are reviewing it to determine how we can improve the existing process that meets the variety of wishes from our patients' families while ensuring a safe transition of personal belongings."
To read the full statement, click here.